List of scientific errors
. An example of a inaccuracy in the Walking with series]]Despite ''Walking with... being a documentary series, several paleontological inaccuracies appear throughout some of the shows. However, most of the errors are caused by new discoveries. Here's a list of them. ''Walking with Dinosaurs Pilot *Eustreptospondylus'' was somewhat too lizard-like and resembled old reconstructions of dinosaurs. *''Eusterptospondylus'' was not particularly fast among theropods. *''Cetiosaurus'' had many errors, far too long neck, misshaped head, etc. ''Walking with Dinosaurs: Inside Their World *Most ceratopsians had quills protruding from their backs, and evidence was found on ''Psittacosaurus and Triceratops. *''Psittacosaurus is depicted as a quadropedal animal, unlike the real animal, which was bipedal. *Microraptor'' and Archaeopteryx are now known to have been black in color, thanks to fossilized melanosomes. *The dinosaurs featured in this app have pronated hands, something that isn't scientifically true. *''Spinosaurus probably didn't have the jaw strength or neck muscles to lift up and throw an adult ''Suchomimus. *''Spinosaurus may have been quadrupedal, unlike the bipedal one seen in the app, but this has not yet been officialy confirmed. Walking with Dinosaurs New Blood *Coelophysis'' probably didn't feed on live and healthy Placerias. *''Coelophysis'' had sexual dimorphism, unlike the ones in the show, which were all the same. *There is no conclusive evidence that Coelophysis was cannibalistic. This was based on a fossil of Coelophysis with jumbled up bones in its stomach cavity, but these turned out to be species of small crocodiles, rather than the juveniles they were long mistaken to be. However, this was discovered after the release of this episode. *''Coelophysis'' may have had feathers, but it is highly debated. *No theropod had pronated wrists. *''Placerias'' were probably not hippo-like. *Archosaurs generally don't mark their territories with urine, unlike the male Postosuchus in the show. *''Thrinaxodon'' was from the early Triassic, not the late. Note that there is some non-mammalian cynodont material, similar to Thrinaxodon from the petrified woods, which could belong to it. *''Plateosaurus'' couldn't move in a quadrupedal stance. However, this discovery was made after the release of this episode. * Coelophysis didn't live at the same time as Placerias. However they were both from the Ghost Ranch Formation. * Coelophysis ''didn't coexist with ''Plateosaurus, who lived in Europe, not North America. It also did not live at the same time as Coelophysis. * Coelophysis didn't live 220,000,000 BCE. It evolved at least 203,000,000 BCE and lived to at least into the Early Jurassic approximately 196,000,000 BCE or possibly even later. * Dinosaurs are not classified as reptiles anymore, but instead dinosaurs are classified as their own type of class of animals. (Although they share a same common reptilian ancestor with Postosuchus ''which is a reptile, as mentioned in the show) * ''Placerias ''is a stem-mammal, not a reptile. * ''Peteinosaurus ''is found only in Europe, not North America. However, since all of the continents were joined, it may have traversed into North America. * ''Postosuchus is now known not to have walked in a quadrupedal posture. It is instead belived to be bipedal, although this therory is debated. ''Time of the Titans * ''Ornitholestes didn't have a nasal crest. But this wasn't found out until a recent time, long after production was finished. *''Ornitholestes'' almost certainly had feathers, which did appear in the companion book. *''Diplodocus'' held its neck in a slightly higher position then shown in the series. *There is no evidence for such an egg laying structure in Diplodocus. *''Anurognathus'' were micro bat-like insectivores, and did not behave like modern Oxpeckers. Its anatomy is also very inconsistent with the real animal, with a typically elongated neck, deep skull and small wings * Anurognathus wasn't found in North America, only in Germany. (Although there are other types of pterosaurs from the Morrison Formation, such as Mesadactylus and Kepodactylus) This error was fixed in The Complete Guide To Prehistoric Life book. * Allosaurus was mentioned to be the top predator of its age. The top predator would have actually been the larger Saurophaganax and Torvosaurus. * The head design of Allosaurus is inaccurate. Corrected (somewhat) in the Ballad of Big Al. * Brachiosaurus may have had spines on its neck. * Stegosaurus may have had sexual dimorphism, but in the show, all the Stegosaurus are modeled the same. *''Diplodocus'' could not reach adulthood in only a decade. The minimum amount of time it would take for Diplodocus to reach adulthood was forty years. *''Allosaurus'' is now known to have used its head like an axe to kill prey, as it has a bite force weaker than a lion's, but its head could withstand a force 18 times greater than its bite. However, in this episode, it is depicted attacking a baby Diplodocus similar to a Tyrannosaurus Rex, an animal with a strong bite and a completly different attacking style to an Allosaurus. ''Cruel Sea *Liopleurodon'' wasn't even half the size shown in the show. It wasn't 25m long and 150t, but more like 6–10m and 5-8t, the size of an orca. There is evidence of pliosaur bite marks that indicate an animal 25 m long, but it's unlikely that the attacker was a Liopleurodon. *''Liopleurodon'' lived from 160,000,000 BCE to 155,000,000 BCE, not 149,000,000 BCE. *There is no evidence that Ophthalmosaurus migrated towards coasts to give birth. *''Cryptoclidus'' couldn't go on land. * Cryptoclidus lived from 186,000,000 BCE to 164,000,000 BCE, not 149,000,000 BCE. *A study of a few ichthyosaurs, Tylosaurus, and an extinct sea turtle, indicate they were mostly black in colour. This doesn't mean that they where completely black, or that other non-detected colours weren't there. It also doesn't directly involve Opthalmosaurus. *''Rhamphorhynchus'' lacks many skeletal features required for a skim feeder. *The shape of the lower jaw is slightly off in Rhamphorhynchus. *''Rhamphorhynchus'' had longer wings. * Some of the animals seen in the episode didn't live in the late Jurassic, instead they lived in the middle Jurassic such as Cryptoclidus ''and ''Eustreptospondylus. Others like Liopleurodon, Hybodus, and Ophthalmosaurus lived in both the middle and late Jurassic, while Rhamphorhyncus lived near the end of the Jurassic. * Eustreptospondylus lived 162,000,000 BCE, not 149,000,000 BCE. * Sea turtles hadn't evolved yet. They evolved in the Early Cretaceous. ''Giant of the Skies *The giant pterosaur is actually ''Tropeognathus, not Ornithocheirus. *''Tropeognathus'' had a wingspan of only 7-8.2 m (23–27 ft) max. So it was not as large as depicted in the show. *There is no evidence that Tropeognathus traveled the globe. *Tapejarids might have been herbivores/frugivores. *Tapejarids are depicted with ornithocheirid-like limb proportions, with massive forelimbs and short hindlimbs, offering them a cumbersome terrestrial gait. In reality, these pterosaurs, like most azhdarcids, had longer hind limbs and shorter wings (albeit still obviously much larger than the hindlimbs), allowing them to be effective terrestrial foragers. *The Tapejara shown was actually a species of Tupandactylus. *Sexual dimorphism isn't documented in tapejarids. *Tapejarids lived inland, not on the coast. *The walking pose of the all the pterosaurs are far off. *The N. American “''Iguanodon''” is now known as Dakotadon. *''Iguanodon's'' thumb claw wasn't that big. *''Iberomesornis'' has modern bird traits not found in Enantiornithes, like scaly feet (instead of owl-like feathered feet or even Microraptor-like hindwings) and retrices (Meaning it should have these features). *''Iberomesornis lacks the two, long, tail feathers that the real animal had. *Utahraptor'' wasn't found in Europe. *''Utahraptor'' did have feathers running head, to toe, to tail; only the tip of the snout was visible. It even had wings. Additionally, it was impossible for the hands to be pronated without being broken. They held them at the side. The same errors are for Velociraptor (see below). *There is no good evidence that dromaeosaurids where pack hunters. *A paper is being written that will cause many more errors for the WWD dromaeosaurid. *''Polacanthus'' isn't known from N. America, only Europe.(A better candidate for this animal would be Gastonia, since Gastonia lived 127,000,000 BCE in North America). * Since Tropeognathus was not a globe traveler, Tupandactylus lived inland, Iguanodon and Polacanthus lived in Europe and Utahraptor lived in North America, the plot of the episode would have been impossible to happen in reality since Pangea is gone at this time. * Giant pterosaurs are now known to not have been consummate gliders. ''Spirits of the Ice Forest *Leaellynasaura'' should have a tail three times its body length. *There is no evidence that Leaellynasaura could go into a form of hibernation. *''Muttaburrasaurus'' was less hadrosaur like then shown in the show, it was a rhabdodontid. *There is no evidence Muttaburrasaurus where migratory. *It's now known that Australovenator is not an allosaurid, but instead belongs to a group of dinosaurs know as Megaraptorians, a group whose classification is disputed. *''Leaellynasaura'' might have had feathers to keep it warm. *''Australovenator'' didn't live 106,000,000 BCE. It lived as early as 95,000,000 BCE. *''Muttaburrasaurus'' could not make noises with its nasal arch, because it was bony. *''Steropodon is depicted as looking similar to a modern coatimundi, when in reality, it was a monotreme and looked like the modern platypus. *Koolasuchus lived 120,000,000 BCE and was extinct by this time. Death of a Dynasty *Dromaeosaurus'' has the same mistakes as Velociraptor and Utahraptor as well as 2 additional ones. The head is too blocky and stout and they died out 72,000,000 BCE, not 65,500,000 BCE. (Although there were two different dromeosaurids, Acheroraptor ''and Dakotaraptor'', which lived in Hell Creek.). *''Dinilysia'' didn't live at the same time as the other species in the episode, as they died out 20 million years earlier. It also only lived in South America, while the episode takes place in North America. *''Torosaurus'' and Triceratops may have been omnivores but this is debatable. *''Torosaurus'' might not have lived in herds. *Tyrannosaurus rex: ** Many aspects of T. rex mating behavior in the show was speculation. **In WWD, the T. rex is depicted as a solitary creature. However, Phil Currie has found some evidence supporting that tyrannosaurids hunted in packs. **Tyrannosaurs are depicted featherless. In reality, they probably had feathers, at least as newborns. **''T. rex's hands should be facing inwards, not downwards. The rear teeth, legs, and tail also seem a little shorter. ''T. rex is depicted as being 5 tonnes, but specimens 8-10 tonnes are not uncommon. But The Complete Guide To Prehistoric Life seems to have corrected these mistakes. **''T. rex'' is now known to have extremely powerful muscles in its neck and jaws; combined with its teeth that made its bite deadly. **Evidence that female T. rexes were bigger than males isn't solid anymore. **The head of Tyrannosaurus is just very slightly too blocky. **''T. rex is now also considered a cannibal, as well as a hunter and scavanger. *"''Anatotitan" is now known as Edmontosaurus annectens. *It also lacks a fleshy crest akin to that of a rooster on its head. However, this is a relatively new discovery. Though this is only known from E. regalis at the moment, may have been a sexually dimporphic feature, and has been disputed. * E. annectens and hadrosaurs in general didn't have thumb spikes like their Iguanodon cousins. *''Deinosuchus'' was extinct by this time. *We now know that the eyes of smaller ornithopods are pronounced in a way that makes them look angry. This feature is also seen in eagles. *There are multiple inaccuracies for Quetzalcoatlus: The head is bigger and has a large flat crest instead of a tiny notch at the back of the head. The neck is much, much, longer than the program's design. The final result ends up looking more like another pterosaur, Ludodactylus. *''Triceratops'' and Torosaurus could have been the same animal at different growth stages. *''Didelphodon'' was not badger-like. In reality, it had a head like a Tasmanian Devil and a body like an otter. *''Ankylosaurus'' was not as tall as appeared in the series, in reality it was about as tall as 4.6 to 5.6 feet ''Walking with Beasts New Dawn *Gastornis'' may have been herbivorous, but this was debated at the time. *''Eurotamandua'' is depicted as an actual tamandua, when it was a rather bizarre mammal of possible afrothere affinities. *''Ambulocetus'' didn't live in Europe. Ambulocetus ''lived in Pakistan (although the program stated it traveled to Europe from Asia) *Ambulocetus'' had straight limbs, but was still ungainly on land, and may not have been the most powerful predator in a lake since Ambulocetus was actually a fairly clumsy swimmer, not too maneuverable or fast. ''Whale Killer *Andrewsarchus'' is depicted as a mesonychid, when it was a more entelodont-like artiodactyl. However this is a very common and big mistake as most drawings/paintings of Andrewsarchus depict it as a mesonychid. Only a few correct drawings exist. *''Moeritherium'' and Apidium did not live near the ocean neither did the swamps they lived in. *''Dorudon was most likely not a social animal. *Basilosaurus'' could not live as deep in the ocean as potrayed in the episode. A study of its vertebrae reveals that it was too weak to specialize in deep diving. It instead would stay close to the shore. ''Land of Giants *Hyaenodon'' is said to have bone crushing jaws. In real life, they were for shearing rather than crushing. It's still likely that they were capable of crushing bone, though. *''Hyaenodon'' had a slightly longer muzzle than is shown in the series. *''Cynodictis is depicted walking on its toes, similar to wolves and dogs. In reality, ''Cynodictis ''walked on its feet, similar to bears and humans. *''Cynodictis lived during the early Oligocene and died out by the time the episode takes place in. ''Next of Kin *It is unlikely ''Australopithecus afarensis could scare off large chalicotheres. ''Sabre-Tooth *Phorusrhacos'' probably did not have wing claws. *''Phorusrhacos'' was probably stockier and had a shorter neck than is shown in the series. *''Phorusrhacos'' lived in the Miocene (20,000,000-13,000,000 BCE), not the Pleistocene of 1,000,000 BCE. *All Phorusrhacidae (Terror Birds), went extinct 1,800,000 BCE, therefore all scenes with the Terror birds wouldn't have been possible. *No Phorusrhacidae is known from South America at this time.(The only Phorusrhacidae known to be alive at this time would be Titanis, But Titanis was only found in North America) *There is no evidence that Megatherium ate carrion to supplement its diet, though there is still suspense that it was a meat-eater. ''Mammoth Journey *Male Woolly Mammoth skulls did not have tusks that curve over another. Only Columbian Mammoths are known to have this feature. *The Neanderthal was not the last survivor of the genus ''Homo, besides humans: the highly debated[[Homo floresiensis|'' Homo'' floresiensis]] was. *Cave Lions had much longer, tufted, tails, like a modern lion, a primitive mane, and a faint striped pattern, we know this from cave art. The one seen in the episode shared a similar (or identical) model with smilodon minus the sabres, which is why it exhibits these innacuricies. ''Walking with Cavemen *Some paleanthropologists believe the African ''Homo heidelbergensis is merely an archaic form of modern humans. *Some paleanthropologists do not recognize Homo ergaster and Homo erectus as separate species. Even if they were separate, some believe H. erectus did survive and evolved into the highly controversial H. floresiensis. ''Walking with Monsters Water Dwellers *There is no evidence for ''Cephalaspis swimming into fresh water to lay eggs. *''Brontoscorpio'' lived at a different time then Cephalaspis, one in the Silurian, the other in the Devonian. *''Cephalaspis was not ancestral to tetrapods. Reptile's Beginnings *In the series, ''Petrolacosaurus is incorrectly identified as an ancestral synapsid, when in fact, it was an early diapsid and could therefore not have been the ancestor of any synapsids (e.g. Edaphosaurus). Furthermore, it is stated that the Dimetrodon was a reptile, when in fact, it was a synaspid (one could call them reptilomorphs). Furthermore, the most basal synapsid, Archaeothyris, would have been a more suitable candidate. *The Dimetrodon hatchlings are shown with their back sails fully erect, when they probably wouldn't have grown yet. *The skin texture of Edaphosaurus and Dimetrodon are slightly off. They had scutes on their skin, similar but different to the ones on crocodilians. They are believed to lack the scales of lepidosaurian reptiles. Its' also thought they could of had fur. *''Dimetrodon is depicted as living in a desert-like enviornment, when in fact, ''Dimetrodon ''is known to have lived in a swamp-like enviornment. *The tops of some ''Dimetrodon's ''nureal spines may have been exposed bone rather than covered with a full sail, and some animals may have only had a sail halfway up the spines. *No species of spider is known to have been as large as the ''Mesothelae ''seen in this episode, now that ''Megarachne ''has been proven to be a species of sea scorpian. This doesn't mean that there isn't a Carbonifourus spider of this size, it just means that one has not yet been found. *Dimetrodon had incisors that were longer than the rest of their teeth. Clash of Titans *Gorgonops'' and the Rhinesuchus are only known from South Africa, yet in Clash of Titans, they are portrayed living with Scutosaurus ''and a Siberian species of ''Diictodon, which were only found in Siberia. But the gorgonopsid ''was more likely an ''Inostrancevia since it lived at the same time and place as Scutosaurus ''and the Siberian species of ''Diictodon. *Gorgonopsids are thought that they could of had fur. *''Euparkeria'' is not an ancestor of the dinosaurs, being basal to crocodile-dinosaur split. *It is unknown if the species of Therocephalian seen in this epsiode was truly venomus. ''Chased by Dinosaurs *Velociraptor'' may not have lived in heavily forested areas. All of the sites where Velociraptor fossils were found suggest that the animal lived in sandy, arid environments with many sand dunes (with one specimen apparently being smothered to death by a sand dune). *''Velociraptor'' lacks feathers. All Dromaeosaurids/Raptors had pennaceous feathers running from head to tail. It even had wings. *''Giganotosaurus'' was depicted on the show as the largest carnivorous dinosaur, though current size estimates favor Spinosaurus. *''Argentinosaurus'' is said to have been the biggest dinosaur. Though it may also belong to poorly known forms such as Amphicoelias fragilimus, Puertasaurus reuli, Bruhathkayosaurus matleyi, ''or ''Futalognkosaurus dukei. *''Argentinosaurus's neck was probably held vertical not horizontal. *''Argentinosaurus's ''body shape is largly based off ''Saltosaurus, like most titanosaurs were in the past. However, newer studies show that Saltosaurus ''had very different proportians from most titanosaurs. *Velociraptor's'' claw could not disembowel prey because the underside was round therefore the claw was used for stabbing. *''Tarbosaurus's'' arms should be facing inwards not downwards and Tarbosaurus probably had feathers. *''Saurolophus'' and hadrosaurs in general didn't have thumb spikes like their Iguanodon cousins. *''Therizinosaurus'' was depicted featherless. It is almost certain that therizinosaurs had feathers. *''Pteranodon'' didn't live in South America. It was endemic only to North America. *''Pteranodon'' lived 86,000,000-84,500,000 BCE (possibly as late as 80,500,000 BCE), not 100,000,000 BCE (Ludodactylus would have been a closer choice but it was discovered at the time the show aired and it lived 12 million years before the episode takes place and lived in Brazil). * ''Tropeognathus'''' (called here [[Ornithocheirus|''Ornithocheirus]] ) was found in Brazil, not Argentina. * Pteranodon should have had pycnofibres (fuzz) on its body. * Male'' Pteranodon probably had a more vividly colored crest to attract females. The beak of all Pteranodons is also known to have curved slightly upwards. * It is now known that the frill bones of Protoceratops increased in length and width during the ontogeny of the animal and that the growth of the frill was greater than than the overall growth of the animal. * It is known that ''Protoceratops ''most likely used it frill for sexual and dominance signaling * ''Protoceratops ''had quills on its tail, unlike the one in the program * ''Mononykus ''should have more feathers * ''Mononykus ''was too large compared to the real animal Sea Monsters ''Intro *Same issues with Velociraptor as seen above. *''Velociraptor'' was unlikely to live that close to the sea, same with Tarbosaurus. *Same inaccuracies with the Tarbosaurus as in Chased by Dinosaurs. ''Ordovician'' *Some "''Sea scorpions''" could go on land only for short intervals, and eat washed up carcasses. *Mild time map issues, see below. ''Devonian'' *There's no evidence Dunkleosteus was a cannibal, but being the top predator it's likely Dunkleosteus was a cannibal. ''Triassic'' *''Tanystropheus'' was an archosauromorph, they can't shed tails in defence. *''Tanystropheus'' is depecited as a primarily aquatic animal, while most paleontologists now believe that it was mostly terestrial, sitting on the coast and using its long neck to catch fish from afar. ''Jurassic'' *''Leedsicthys' size is grossly exaggerated. In reality, it was 8–17 m and 25 tons rather than the 27 m and 100 tons in the show. *Same issues with ''Liopluerodon ''as in Cruel Sea. (see above) ''Cretaceous *''Pteranodons'' were diving creatures that hunted fish similar to gannets, unike the skim feeders they were portrayed as in the episode. *Same other errors with Pteranodon ''as in Chased by Dinosaurs *Tyrannosaurus did not live 75,000,000 BCE. *Mosasaurs'' like Tylosaurus and Halisaurus had tail flukes. *''Tylosaurus'' was 15 m and 7 tons, not 17 m and 20 tons. *A recent study on Tylosaurus ''has concluded that the animal was black in color, not brown like the series' depiction of the animal. *There is no evidence that mosasaurs like ''Tylosaurus ''lived in large family groups ''Eocene *Arsinoitherium did not have a trunk. *''Basilosaurus' ability to "sing" is highly inaccurate. It and other early whales lacked the melon organ that modern whales have that is used for this action. *Same issues with ''Dorudon ''as in Whale Killer. (see above) ''Pliocene *''Megalodon'' was depicted a little bit too similar to modern day great whites. Though scientists suggest that Megalodon did look like a stockier version of the great white. *There's no evidence juvenile Megalodon would have lived in the shallows. ''Time map'' *Creatures have the same issues as described in their respective sections. (See above) *Time periods of planet earth go much farther back then the Ordovician, but this was probably an artistic choice, as Nigel didn't go any farther back then this. *''Basilosaurus'' should be a bit farther back. *The Cenozoic section should be a bit bigger. ''Walking with Dinosaurs: The 3D Movie *Gorgosaurus'' had feathers. *''Pachyrhinosaurus'' had quills like Psittacosaurus and Triceratops. *''Edmontosaurus'' had a crest. *''Troodon'' had more feathers. *''Quetzalcoatlus'' had a bigger head and longer neck. *''Alexornis'' had some errors.